Chapter 167: Selene’s Class Evolution Moon paid the emerging threats absolutely no attention whatsoever. He understood his role perfectly: finish the primary goal, the S-rank target before him. As for everything else? That was his team’s responsibility, not his. He’d spent enough time fighting alongside Selene to trust her ability in handling the other threats. Similarly, he had developing trust in Yara and Gratis to contribute meaningfully, albeit the confidence level was somewhat less than what he felt toward Selene. Although the injury was painful and would require some time to heal, Moon refused to interpret it as a failure or weakness. Rather, Moon viewed it as a valuable opportunity. A chance to further increase both his physical pain tolerance and his Elemental Body skill’s fire resistance. Mana flared from Moon’s entire body as he began to repetitively cast spells with moderate power rather than going for maximum effort. He wasn’t attempting to land a single overwhelming killing blow, he didn’t want to damage the core in the Magma Queen’s chest. Instead, Moon was creating openings, being as much of an eyesore as possible while constantly changing his attack rhythm and body positioning to avoid becoming a predictable, sitting target. Gulp! Moon drank a stamina restoration potion while sprinting, not even slowing his movement. Crack! He discarded the empty glass bottle carelessly onto the mountain surface as he continued his relentless motion. Magma constantly erupted from the ground beneath his path, attempting to catch him off guard with its unpredictable timing. Simultaneously, the Magma Queen herself was launching her own direct attacks in succession. Zap! Bzzzzt! The rumbling sound of electrical energy constantly drummed across the battlefield as Moon searched for the specific opening he required. He’d landed several solid lightning strikes on the Magma Queen’s body so far, causing visible damage and pain. But it wasn’t nearly sufficient damage to actually kill such a durable S-rank creature. She was an exceptionally tough opponent, clearly not a standard S-rank beast, and Moon understood that reality very well. His gaze remained constantly focused on the brilliant crimson core positioned prominently in the center of the Queen’s massive chest—the glowing core that seemed to be her literal heart and power source. ’This core... it’s clearly a natural treasure of immense value,’ Moon thought while dodging yet another devastating magma projectile, before countering another with a water lance. ’I absolutely must claim it for myself. I can commission a powerful weapon forged from this material, dramatically increasing my Ignite skill’s raw power output by a large margin.’ The benefits of acquiring that core went far beyond simple monetary value. The core clearly had fire affinity, a powerful one too. With the core used as the main material for an S-Rank weapon, Moon would have better chances in hunting S-Rank beasts with less trouble. The Magma Queen possessed tremendous offensive power and environmental control that made her incredibly dangerous. But just like every other monster, she wasn’t invincible or without exploitable weaknesses. Her most obvious vulnerability was clearly that exposed, glowing core positioned prominently in her chest, alongside her overwhelming emotions that severely clouded her judgment. Moon understood with complete certainty that he could finish this fight considerably faster by relentlessly targeting the core with concentrated powerful attacks until the cumulative damage became fatal. But he deliberately chose not to employ that straightforward strategy for very specific reasons. Destroying the core directly would almost certainly kill the Magma Queen efficiently—but it would also likely shatter or severely damage the core itself in the process. Moon wanted that core intact and undamaged for his own purposes. A broken, fragmented core would be worthless for him, and a waste of a powerful treasure that could strengthen him. So instead, Moon was slowly weakening the Queen through repeated elemental attacks to her less vital areas, wearing down her overall durability until he could deliver a killing blow that bypassed the core entirely—leaving the precious artifact intact for harvest. It was more dangerous, but the potential reward justified the additional risk, especially with his quick rising proficiency in the Elemental Body skill. The Magma Queen had most likely merged with this powerful fire-element artifact through some unknown evolutionary or magical fusion process, transforming herself from perhaps an A-rank beast into the extraordinarily powerful S-rank elemental she currently represented. Although Moon wasn’t entirely certain about the core’s true nature or original source, he absolutely recognized that it radiated immense, almost overwhelming concentrated fire elemental energy. Whenever the Queen launched her powerful attacks, the core’s glow increased, glowing progressively brighter and brighter like a star blazing in the starry sky. As Moon engaged the Magma Queen in their deadly dance, Selene, Yara, and Gratis were simultaneously fighting their own battle against the emerging Magma Spirits. The fight was on a much slower rhythm, not taxing them. The three had positioned themselves just a few tens of meters away from Moon’s primary engagement zone—close enough to provide support if he told them to, but far enough to avoid being caught in the catastrophic area-effect attacks both combatants were unleashing. Even at this distance, they could feel intense waves of heat radiating from the Magma Queen’s most powerful techniques, the heat washing over them in oppressive pulses that made breathing difficult despite their protective equipment. Yara was currently engaged with three Magma Spirits simultaneously, each one approximately level twenty three in power. The creatures were difficult opponents to deal with effectively given their unique life-form. The arrows she fired struck accurately and dealt initial damage, but once the projectiles became embedded within the spirits’ bodies, they immediately began melting from exposure to the internal lava, rendering them useless. It wasn’t that Yara lacked sufficient combat power or skill. The fundamental problem was that her standard arrows simply weren’t constructed from materials durable enough to deal enough damage. Yet despite the disadvantage, Yara stubbornly continued firing shot after shot without giving up, gradually wearing the Magma Spirits down through sheer volume of attacks and the impact force from repeated strikes alone. From her peripheral vision while engaging her own cluster of enemies, Selene spotted Yara’s obvious struggle against the resilient opponents. She sent a pressurized water technique hurtling toward the Magma Spirit group she was fighting, the liquid attack making contact and producing enormous clouds of hissing steam as superheated rock met cooling water. [You have killed a level 22 Magma Spirit] [You have killed a level 23 Magma Spirit] [You have reached level 25!] [Class Evolution Available! Please complete Evolution Tasks to advance from Awakener to Evolver.]